The Environment Chronicle

On 24 August 2011 the federal government submitted a draft ordinance on the Allocation of Greenhouse Gas Emission Allowances for the Trading Period 2013 to 2020. The draft transposes the EU Commission Decision 2011/278/EC of 27 April 2011 determining transitional Union-wide rules for harmonised free allocation of emission allowances. The ZuV 2020 draft still needs to be approved by parliament.

Research commissioned by Greenpeace International has revealed that clothing and certain fabric-based shoes sold internationally by major clothing brands are manufactured using nonylphenol ethoxylates (NPEs). NPEs – which are used as surfactants in textile production - subsequently break down to form toxic nonylphenol (NP). Nonylphenol is a persistent chemical with hormone-disrupting properties that builds up in the food chain, and is hazardous even at very low levels. The investigation involved the analysis of 78 articles of sports and recreational clothing and shoes bearing the logos of 15 leading clothing brands.

On August 22, 2011 people in 22 cities spanning 16 countries held solidarity demonstrations to urge Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff to cancel the controversial Belo Monte Dam and to defend the forest code.

On 19 August 2011, at the Neptun Werft in Rostock-Warnemünde, Germany, German Federal Research Minister, Annette Schavan, together with the Lower Saxony Minister of Science and Culture, Johanna Wanka, signed the build and management contract for the new deep-sea research vessel Sonne - German for sun. In 2015 the new ship will replace the 36 years old German deep-sea research vessel carrying the same name. The Federal Ministery of Education & Research will cover 90% of the EUR 124.4 million investment; the coastal states will cover the remaining 10% of which . The Indian and Pacific Ocean will be the newbuild’s principal areas of operations. Both have a major impact on world climate, which is why their research is becoming increasingly important. The Sonne will also help in answering other scientific and socially very relevant questions, especially regarding the supply of marine raw materials and human intervention in ecosystems.

NASA-funded researchers have created the first complete map of the speed and direction of ice flow in Antarctica. The map, which shows glaciers flowing thousands of miles from the continent's deep interior to its coast, will be critical for tracking future sea-level increases from climate change. The team created the map using integrated radar observations from a consortium of international satellites. "This is like seeing a map of all the oceans' currents for the first time. It's a game changer for glaciology," said Eric Rignot of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif., and the University of California (UC), Irvine. Rignot is lead author of a paper about the ice flow published on 18 August 2011 in Science. Rignot and UC Irvine scientists Jeremie Mouginot and Bernd Scheuchl used billions of data points captured by European, Japanese and Canadian satellites to weed out cloud cover, solar glare and land features masking the glaciers. With the aid of NASA technology, the team painstakingly pieced together the shape and velocity of glacial formations, including the previously uncharted East Antarctica, which comprises 77 percent of the continent. The work was conducted in conjunction with the International Polar Year (IPY) (2007-2008.

On 18 August 2011 at the SADC Summit in Luanda, Angola, the Presidents of the Republics of Angola, Botswana, Namibia, Zambia and Zimbabwe signed a Treaty which formally and legally establishes the Kavango Zambezi Transfrontier Conservation Area (KAZA TFCA).

The researchers found that Greenland's longest-observed glacier, Mittivakkat Glacier, made two consecutive record losses in mass observations for 2010 and 2011. The observations indicate that the total 2011 mass budget loss was 2.45 metres, 0.29 metres higher than the previous observed record loss in 2010. The 2011 value was also significantly above the 16-year average observed loss of 0.97 metres per year.

On 12 August 2011, the European Commission has tabled its proposal for a new Regulation of the Council and the European Parliament establishing a multiannual plan for the sustainable management of Baltic salmon. Scientific advice indicates that stocks in some of the approximately 30 wild salmon rivers in the Baltic are outside safe biological limits and at risk of genetic depletion. A non-binding management plan established by the International Baltic Sea Fisheries Commission in 1997 expired in 2010. In response, the European Commission is proposing a new multi-annual management plan for Baltic salmon. The objective of the proposal is the sustainable exploitation of all salmon river stocks in the Baltic Sea and hence to ensure the conservation status of the entire Baltic stock. The specific objectives of the new Regulation aim in ensuring that: the Baltic salmon stock is exploited in a sustainable way according to the principle of maximum sustainable yield (MSY); the genetic integrity and diversity of the Baltic salmon stock is safeguarded.

On 10 August 2011, an oil spill was caused by the rupture of a pipeline on the Shell-owned Ganett Alpha platform, located in the North Sea. The oil platform is 113 miles (180km) off Aberdeen. Two leaks broke out, causing a spill of 218 tonnes of crude oil. The leaks were plugged after 10 days: this was the worst oil spill in this area in 10 years.

On 8 August 2011, Germany's National Meteorological Service, the Deutscher Wetterdienst (DWD), launched the new Climate Atlas of Germany.

Northern German nuclear reaktor Brokdorf was taken offline on 7 August 2011.

On 4 August 2011 UNEP presented its new report to the President of Nigeria, The Hon Goodluck Jonathan, in the Nigerian capital Abuja. The independent scientific assessment of the environment and public health impacts of oil contamination in Ogoniland, in the Niger Delta, shows that pollution from over 50 years of oil operations in the region has penetrated further and deeper than many may have supposed.

On 3 August 2011, the Federal Cabinet adopted the 6th Energy Research Programme worth 3.4 billion over the period 2011 to 2014.

On 3 August 2011 the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA) announced that the MOX Plant would close, due to the loss of Japanese orders following the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster.

A ban on heavy fuel oil from the Antarctic entered into force on 1 August 2011. The ban is contained in an amendment to Annex I (Regulations for the prevention of pollution by oil) to the International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships (MARPOL), with a new chapter on "Special requirements for the use or carriage of oils in the Antarctic area." The effect of the new chapter is to prohibit the use of heavy fuel oils by ships transiting the Antarctic area, which will have to switch to higher grade fuels while in the area.

A study known as DEMOCOPHES on human exposure levels to pollutants will involve some 4,000 mothers and children from various countries in the European Union (EU). It is scheduled to start in 17 European countries in August 2011. This harmonised approach to testing for exposure to pollutants in humans (biomonitoring) used to be funded by the EU Action Programme Environment and Health. The Federal Environment Agency is the German project partner on whose behalf samples from randomly selected mother-child pairs from Bochum and the Hochsauerland region (North-Rhine Westphalia) will be collected and tested for traces of the pollutants mercury, cadmium, cotinine and phthalates (plasticisers).

International Tiger Day, also known as Global Tiger Day, is an annual celebration to raise awareness for tiger conservation, held annually on 29 July. It was created in 2010 at the Saint Petersburg Tiger Summit.

Anyone can now view for themselves the raw data that was at the centre of "climategate" scandal 2009. Temperature records going back 150 years from 5113 weather stations around the world were released on 28 July 2011 to the public by the Climatic Research Unit (CRU) at the University of East Anglia in Norwich, UK. The only records missing are from 19 stations in Poland, which refused to allow them to be made public.

On 26 July the Commission published restrictions on the industrial uses of creosote, a carcinogenic substance. Tough restrictions will come into force on 1 May 2013, following a tightening of rules by the European Commission. Creosote, a carcinogenic substance, may no longer be placed on the EU market unless a company receives an authorisation to do so. The Commission's new decision amends the Biocides Directive and stems from a risk assessment of the effects of creosote on human health and the environment. Creosote is a carcinogen at any level, and there are significant environmental risks when wood treated with creosote comes into direct contact with soil or water. Member States must adopt and publish national laws that comply with this legislation by 30 April 2012 at the latest.

www.klimanavigator.de, a new internet portal, was launched on 25 July 2011. The platform collects knowledge on climate change and serves as a guide to the German research landscape in the area of climate, the results of climate change, and adjusting to climate change. The project was initiated by the Climate Service Center (CSC) in Hamburg, which is part of the Helmholtz-Zentrum Geesthacht. The Klimanavigator (or the climate navigator) is a joint portal for over thirty institutions in the German research landscape. They have united to better communicate their results to users in politics, business, administration, and society as a whole. The Klimanavigator helps to collect knowledge about climate protection and how we can adjust to its changes.

The new recast RoHS Directive (DIRECTIVE 2011/65/EU OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL of 8 June 2011 on the restriction of the use of certain hazardous substances in electrical and electronic equipment (recast)) has been published in the Official Journal of the European Union on 1 July, 2011, and entered into force 21 July 2011. The new law is a revision of the RoHS Directive on the restriction of hazardous substances in electrical and electronic equipment. It will continue to ban lead, mercury, cadmium, hexavalent chromium and the flame retardants Polybrominated biphenyls (PBB) and Polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDE). The previous RoHS Directive covered several categories of electrical and electronic equipment including household appliances, IT and consumer equipment, but it has now been extended to all electronic equipment, cables and spare parts. Exemptions can still be granted in cases where no satisfactory alternative is available. The list of banned substances will be reviewed on a regular basis.

On a day when 4.9 tonnes of confiscated illegal ivory is destroyed in Kenya by the Lusaka Agreement Task Force, an intergovernmental body set up to facilitate wildlife law enforcement in Africa, WWF is issuing a strong warning that burning stockpiles of seized ivory is not the whole solution to the long-running elephant poaching problem on the continent. There is an urgent need to strengthen law enforcement and clean-up unregulated domestic ivory markets. While most of the worlds’ attention will be focused on the blazing pile of ivory in Kenya on the first African Elephant Law Enforcement Day, WWF is urging the range states of African elephants, and the international community, to embrace the broader challenge and to step up their efforts to stamp out illegal and poorly regulated domestic ivory markets, in both Asia and Africa.

On 19 July 2011 the Council has adopted the "radioactive waste and spent fuel management directive", proposed by the Commission on 3rd November 2010.

On 19 July 2011, the Commission has recognised seven voluntary schemes for biofuels: ISCC, Bonsucro EU, RTRS EU RED, RSB EU RED, 2BSvs, RBSA and Greenergy. This recognition applies directly in 27 EU Member States. Voluntary schemes are control systems that certify sustainability of biofuels. Companies importing or producing biofuels have to demonstrate that their biofuels are produced in a sustainable way.

BP has reported a pipeline leak at its Alaskan oilfields. BP said a pipeline at its 30,000-barrel-per-day Lisburne field ruptured during testing and spilled a mixture of methanol and oily water onto the tundra. The Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation said the spill occurred on 16 July 2011 and amounted to 2,100 to 4,200 gallons.

On 15 July 2011 Lufthansa is launching a six-month biofuel trial on regular scheduled flights. A Lufthansa Airbus A321 will fly the Hamburg-Frankfurt-Hamburg route four times daily. One of its engines will run on a 50/50 mix of regular fuel and biosynthetic kerosene. The biofuel for jet engines has been approved by the American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM). Since biokerosene has similar properties to those of conventional kerosene it can be used for all aircraft types without any need for modifications to the aircraft or its engines.

The Renewables 2011 Global Status Report (GSR) published by the REN21 policy network on 12 July 2011 confirms that there is a global trend toward renewable energy. Renewable energy accounted for some 16 per cent of final energy consumption worldwide and for almost 20 per cent of electricity consumption in 2010, reflecting continuous growth. Global investment in renewable energy increased by more than a third in 2010, reaching a total of 211 billion US dollars (in 2009, it was 160 billion US dollars). Political targets and support policies continue to be crucial for the expansion of renewable energy. There are at least 191 countries that have adopted relevant national goals or policies (in 2005, there were only 55). Developing and emerging economies are becoming more active in this regard. In 2010, the greatest increase took place in the field of wind energy, followed by hydropower and photovoltaics. However, 2010 was also the first year in which Europe saw a greater increase in photovoltaic capacity than in wind capacity.

Mandatory measures to reduce emissions of greenhouse gases (GHGs) from international shipping were adopted by Parties to MARPOL Annex VI represented in the Marine Environment Protection Committee (MEPC) of the International Maritime Organization (IMO), when it met for its 62nd session from 11 to 15 July 2011 at IMO Headquarters in London, representing the first ever mandatory global greenhouse gas reduction regime for an international industry sector.

Car fleet renewal schemes introduced in the US, France and Germany fell short of their potential to deliver on environmental and safety objectives, according to a new report published by the International Transport Forum at the OECD and the FIA Foundation on 11 July 2011. The focus of the 70-page study are three of the largest car fleet renewal schemes introduced primarily to stimulate consumer spending on cars in the wake of the 2008 economic crisis. The study investigates the impact on CO2 and NOx emissions of 2.8 million transactions in which old cars were traded for new vehicles under car fleet renewal schemes in France, Germany and the United States. The report assesses the value for money of the different schemes and identifies critical design elements for ensuring success in meeting the environmental and safety objectives. The report was prepared by the Dutch research and consultancy organisation TNO together with experts at the International Transport Forum and the OECD Environment Directorate. The safety impact analysis was prepared by the Dutch Institute for Road Safety Research (SWOV).

Jülich, 8 July 2011 – The IAGOS project has now entered its operative phase. Together with Lufthansa and other European partners, Forschungszentrum Jülich has started long-term monitoring of the Earth's atmosphere from commercial airliners on a scale not yet seen in climate research. Specially developed measuring instruments on board a Lufthansa Airbus A340-300 named "Viersen" will routinely make broad-based records of atmospheric trace substances during its flights worldwide and in future will also monitor aerosols and cloud particles.

Mutriku, said to be the world’s first commerical wave power facility, was developed by Basque utility company Ente Vasco de la Energía (EVE). The 300 kW plant is made up 16 wave power units and is based in the Basque port of Mutriku, between Bilbao and San Sebastian in the North of Spain.

On 7 July 2011 the German Parliament approved the controversial CCS bill. 306 MPs voted in favour, 266 against, and one abstained.

The Federal Government has provided the financial basis for the establishment of a forest climate fund in the draft Federal Budget for 2012. Resources amounting to 35 million euros per year are to be allocated for the fund, which will be set up by 1 January 2013 under the joint patronage of the Federal Ministries of Agriculture and of the Environment. The funds are to be used to develop schemes to restore balanced landscape water resources, to improve adaptation to climate change, to maintain and secure forest mires, to establish new carbon-rich riparian and moist forests, as well as to set up reference areas, but also to expand the CO2 reduction potential of wood. There are also plans to prevent and cope with large-scale damage caused by events such as storms or forest fires. In addition, research, monitoring, communication and knowledge transfer are to be supported.

On 5 July 2011 the Bahamas announced a ban on shark fishing. The Atlantic Ocean archipelago said it was banning the commercial fishing of sharks in its 243,000 square miles (630,000 square kilometers) of water, along with the sale, import or export of shark products.

A majority of MEPs, led by rapporteur Bas Eickhout (Greens/EFA, NL), voted on 5 July 2011 against the adoption of a draft resolution on EU climate policy. An amendment had been narrowly adopted to support a conditional 30% greenhouse gas reductions target, rather than the unilateral step to 30% cuts previously recommended by Parliament. In the final vote, there were 258 votes in favour of adopting the amended resolution, 347 against and 63 abstentions. Parliament's latest adopted position on climate policy therefore remains the resolution voted in November 2010, which recommended an unconditional 30% greenhouse gas reduction target (by 2020 based on 1990 levels).

On July 3rd takes place the international Plastic Bag-Free Day organised by GAIA, Zero Waste Europe and the Fundació Prevenció de Residus i Consum.

From 2 to 4 July 2011 the Petersberg Climate Dialogue II took place in Berlin. Ministers and high-ranking representatives from 35 countries met for the Petersberg Climate Dialogue II "Rising to the Climate Challenge" at the invitation of Germany and South Africa. The first Petersberg Climate Dialogue I "Building Momentum for Mexico" took place from 2 to 4 May 2010 on the Petersberg near Bonn. The aim of the Petersberg Climate Dialogue was to comprehensively support and advance the international climate negotiations following the disappointing summit in Copenhagen and bridge the gap between "implementation and negotiation".

An ExxonMobil pipeline that runs under the Yellowstone River near Billings in south-central Montana ruptured and dumped between 31,500 and 42,000 gallons of crude oil into the waterway, prompting temporary evacuations along the river on 2 July 2011.

The German Bundestag, approved the government's historic phase-out of nuclear energy on 30 June 2011, four months after the disaster at the Fukushima nuclear plant in Japan intensified Germans' opposition to nuclear energy. The governing center-right coalition of the Christian Democratic Union and the Free Democrats convinced the opposition Social Democrats and Greens to vote for the bill, giving it a wide majority of 513 "yes" votes and 79 "no" votes. Eight lawmakers abstained. Only the Left party voted against the bill, arguing for an even faster timeline. The bill gradually turns off Germany's nuclear power plants, and immediately shuts down the eight oldest operating plants. The last plant would shut down in 2022.